Chosen by Sin (6 page)

She adored Dex, but someone needed to knock some sense into the were.

Someone needed to knock some sense into
her
.

What had she been thinking, accepting his offer of sex?

Okay, she knew what she’d been thinking. That she was sick of suffering
from the heat and that Dex was hot and she respected him and that she knew he
cared about her so why not let him help her out?

Well, the “why not” had just walked out the door.

Sighing, she curled onto her side and stared out her small hotel
window. Through the sheer curtains, she could just make out the cloudless
California sky.

Bottom line, she’d let her own needs overshadow those of her friend’s.
At least, she’d done so after Dex had met Jesmina. She’d seen for herself how
attracted he was to Jes and the fact that Dex hadn’t been able to hide that
attraction was telling.

Lucy stood, used the bathroom, then studied herself in the mirror. She
looked the way she should. Like a female who’d just had sex. Her long dark
brown hair was tousled eggbeater style around her face. Dex’s soul patch had
left red marks near her neck and shoulders. She lightly traced the lines with
the pads of her fingers.

Yes, she looked like someone’s lover even when she’d never really been
one.

And maybe that was how it was supposed to be.

Things were changing.

The team was fracturing.

And that made her feel more panicked than she’d felt since peace had
been declared.

What was she going to do?

When she was with her teammates, she was more than she’d ever been.
More than a mage denying her feline blood. More than a youthful looking female
who no one took seriously. Sure, she was the quietest one, the peacekeeper of
the group, but that just emphasized the fact that she had a place among them.

Here, now, she was adrift without the others.

But that was something that was going to have to change.

Felicia had Knox, and Wraith had Caleb. Dex deserved his own chance at
happiness. To give him that chance, she was going to have to break the fragile
connection that he’d initiated between them. For his own good. And for hers.

She had to find her place, as well as the ability to stand in it on her
own.

***

Mahone was an excellent FBI agent, Dex thought. He was an even better
leader. Political enough to rise in the ranks, manipulative enough to recognize
and move pawns where they needed to go, and unassuming enough to fly under the
radar when he needed to, which was most of the time. But today something was
different.

Dex stared at the human who was pacing his temporary space at the
Bureau’s office in Los Angeles.

Today, Mahone seemed edgier. Tougher. In attitude and in appearance. It
wasn’t like the guy really looked different exactly, at least not in an obvious
way. Yet he seemed fitter when he’d always been fit. Sharper when he’d always
been sharp. And younger…

Dex frowned. For some reason, Dex always thought of Mahone as fatherly,
but why? He was mid-forties. No gray hair. Probably quite attractive to most
females. Hell, even Knox’s mother had fallen for him.

Would Jesmina find him attractive?

Dex jolted at the random thought. Jesus, what was wrong with him? As
much as he hated his preoccupation with the vampire, he understood it. The fact
he was now thinking of
her
in terms of
Mahone’s
attractiveness told him he needed to get his shit
together. Now.

He returned his attention to Mahone.

Oblivious to Dex’s thoughts, Mahone kept right on talking. “…so I’d
like you to go to France to check out the growing division among
shape-shifters. Paris has the hottest pocket of infighting, with a rapidly
escalating murder rate among the race, but we need to assess the situation
before we go diving in.”

“What about the Quorum? Do you think they’re involved?”

“No reason to think so. Not yet. After what happened with Felicia and
the felines, they seem to be lying low. Do you have contacts in Paris?”

He hadn’t. Not until recently, Dex thought. Not until he’d met Jesmina.
She lived there and had told Dex on the night they’d met that she’d be
returning at the end of the week.

That meant he had another excuse to see her again before she left.

He tried to temper any pleasure he felt with thoughts of Lucy, who was
right in the middle of her heat. If he went to Paris alone, he’d be gone
several days, which meant she’d suffer needlessly during that time. “I think I
know someone who might be able to help once I get there, but why not let Lucy
go with me? If I go alone, getting the info you want will be twice as difficult
given the French bias toward weres.”

A bias was putting it mildly. The French were extremely hostile toward
werewolves, creatures they deemed to have been cursed by the Gods and in league
with the devil. Historically, more people had been tried and put to death for
lycanthropy in France than in any other country in the world. Even Jesmina had
used the word “were” with a hint of automatic disdain, and she’d been
undeniably attracted to him.

“I’m glad you brought up Lucy,” Mahone said, looking displeased. “I’ve
been meaning to discuss the amount of time you’ve been spending with her.”

Why? Because Lucy was a member of Mahone’s team and he didn’t like team
members fraternizing? Maybe Mahone just felt protective of Lucy, as Dex did.
She seemed to inspire that feeling in males.

Mahone blew out a breath. “Look, I know Lucy has certain
needs
, but I can’t afford to have both of you out of the
country. O’Flare’s going to help Wraith adjust to her new situation. Knox is
still determined to keep Felicia safe, which means not letting her set foot out
of the Vampire Dome. That leaves only you and Lucy. With everything that’s
happened with the felines lately, it makes sense for me to keep Lucy nearby.
Besides, you’ll only be gone a few days.”

“When do you want me to leave?”

“This week. Can you get in touch with your contact by then?”

“Yeah,” Dex said. “I can.” He wasn’t sure if Jes would be able to tell
him anything about French shape-shifters, but it didn’t really matter. Not
anymore.

Forces were conspiring to bring them together, and he was tired of
fighting them.

He was giving in gracefully.

He’d talk to Jes, fly to France, get the information Mahone wanted, and
then things would get back to normal. He’d tell Mahone he was ready to move on
his grandfather, and then he’d decide whether he even wanted to be part of the
Para-Ops team anymore.

But first, he’d get in touch with Jesmina.

In fact, as he left Mahone, touching Jes was all Dex could think about.

Of all the disastrous mistakes he could possibly make, Dex knew he was
about to make a big one. Yet, there was no stopping himself. It was late
afternoon, the L.A. sun still blazing, so chances were that Jes was inside her
room. Sleeping. Warm and drowsy. Vulnerable.

As he stood in front of her hotel room door, his skin rippled with the
need of his beast to break through. He tried to keep his thoughts on his
mission, on his need to question her about the shape-shifters, but as soon as
she opened the door, his ability to reason shorted out.

Her telltale moonlight hair was a disheveled cloud around her face. Her
legs were bare, her nipples dark and reaching out to him from beneath a thin
long-sleeved tee, her expression devoid of any hint of surprise. Behind her,
the shades were drawn and the room cast in shadows.

Without thinking, he stepped into the room, kicked the door shut with
his foot, then reached for her and didn’t even bother with the niceties.

As if he had every right in the world, he slipped his hand under the
fall of her hair and palmed the back of her neck. The way she bit her lip and
the way her lids shuttered sent his pulse spiking and his body hardening.

He paused. Waited for her to protest.

But she didn’t. His blood raged through him when her little white teeth
released the plump flesh of her bottom lip. He followed the movement with his
gaze, imagining her teeth lengthening into fangs, penetrating his throat. He
nearly grimaced from the quivers of desire that rattled through him with a
complimentary need to bury himself in her body. Her lips parted.

“What took you so long?” she demanded.

Eyes widening then narrowing, Dex stepped forward and took her mouth
with his. He’d never felt so much a wolf as he did at that moment, swooping
down on her like a predator overpowering its prey. Plunging his hands into her
hair, he held her still for his kiss, groaning at the warm slick suction that
surrounded his tongue and shivered its way down to other parts of his body. His
hands followed suit, slipping down to her shoulders, pausing at the graceful
swell of her breasts, then separating so that one played with her nipples while
the other snaked its way to the juncture of her thighs.

She jolted when he pressed his fingers against her mound, her gasp
almost drowned out by his groan of approval. She was warm and wet here, too,
her body extending the same invitation she’d uttered when she’d first
approached him in that bar.

Firmly, he pressed his thumb against the bud that swelled for his
touch. Her thighs trembled, something he barely noticed because of his own
shaky limbs. Against his fingers, a gush of moisture soaked the fabric of her
panties, making him dizzy with need. His nostrils flared as he absorbed her
scent, the spice of her arousal almost drowning out the perfume. He licked his
lips, wanting to go down on her, knowing she’d taste like heaven on earth.
Instinctively, he pressed his groin against her thigh, her warmth penetrating
his clothes and giving him the smallest hint of what he’d feel when he was
inside her.

But something was off. Even as she opened her mouth wider, welcoming
the aggressive thrust of his tongue, she seemed startled by his passion.
Innocence didn’t jive with what he knew of her, which admittedly was very
little, but she seemed almost frightened. By him or the passion between them?
He hesitated and started to pull back.

She’d have none of it. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she
deliberately arched her lower body into his hand. Then she dropped her own hand
and cupped him through his pants, finding and rubbing the head of his cock with
a firm, circular motion.

His eyes rolled back in his head and he struggled for control. There
was a reason he needed to pull away. Something important…

Quietly, she murmured, “Take me. Now. I can’t—I can’t have
children. We don’t need protection.”

Protection. Not needed.

Vampires couldn’t lie.

But he wasn’t taking any chances. Not with her. Not with anyone.

Using his free hand, he retrieved several condoms from his pocket and
held them out to her. “Suit me up,” he said.

She looked shocked at his request, which gave him pause. She’d never
helped a guy put on a rubber before? But before he could give it more thought,
she took one of the packs he held out and did the one thing guaranteed to bring
him to his knees.

She lowered herself to hers.

***

With her head bent and her gaze focused on her fingers, which were
fumbling with Dex Hunt’s zipper, Jesmina bit her lip to stop herself from moaning
in confusion and delight. Now’s the time to do it, Jes, she told herself. Strip
him naked and rid him of the gold he carries, then read his mind and use
persuasion on him. You’re not actually going to have sex with him, remember?
You’re a scientist who needs to test his blood; you’re not a whore.

But even at her mental gymnastics, her fingers freed him from his pants
and her breath escaped.

Like hell I’m not going to have sex with him
.

And it had nothing to do with needing to test his blood.

She wanted him. Inside of her. On top of her.

And he wanted her, too.

His shaft was big and thick, the plum-shaped tip flushing a dark red
and reaching almost to his belly button. She wrapped her fingers gently around
him, gasping when Dex hissed and jerked as if she’d burned him. Yet she was the
one who felt burned. His erection was smooth and hot, and that heat traveled
directly from her fingertips to her breasts and in between her thighs. Wanting
to heighten that delicious heat, she stroked him, relishing his growl and the
way his hands flew to her hair and tugged the strands until she looked up at
him.

He was staring down at her, eyes glistening, flags of red on both his
cheekbones. He looked inflamed and angry, and she knew he hadn’t forgiven her
for taking Lucy from him that night to hunt down Alton Maddox. Still, she felt
a moment of glee. Dex might be sleeping with Lucy, might even desire her, but
right now his body wanted hers. The knowledge made her heady with power.
Deliberately, she moved forward, pulling against his grasp, not stopping even
when she felt a bite of pain because he hadn’t released her hair. Her mouth
stopped a mere inch from him and though she strained, he wouldn’t grant her any
more leeway.

She extended her tongue and laved the underside of his shaft.

His fingers tightened even more and he locked his knees together.

“Feeling a little unsteady, were?” she taunted, then swirled her tongue
around him, taking her time before teasingly flicking the tip of him. He moaned
and suddenly, instead of holding her back, he was guiding her where he wanted
her. Or rather, where she wanted him—in her mouth, where she enveloped
him with a warm, moist suction that caused both of them to tremble with
pleasure.

He tasted wonderful. Hot and sweet with a slight tinge of bitterness
that only made him more nuanced and complex. Kind of like fresh, pure blood.
And he slid down her throat just as easily, invigorating and energizing her
without any of the guilt that came with needing to survive by taking from
another. In this, she took but she also gave. She sucked and sucked until her
mouth ached, and then she released him only to rake her fangs teasingly against
him.